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NEWSLETTER 401 Main Street, Vancouver. V6A 2T7 (604) 665-2289

gl W ·tng hearts we- see

With- 0 -

· The-nse ,

JULY 1, 2006

www .carnnews.org carnnews@vcn. bc.ca

Allln.tit Ocan

NF.WFOlJNDU\ND I

True North, strong and free ;

female ..... .

•

DTES: WHAT NOW?

The Downtown East Side has come through some heavy transformations during its evolution. In the day we knew it as skid row. The name was a logging term from the very old days when they actually skid­ded logs in the area now known as the Downtown East Side (DTES). After the fire that destroyed the original Vancouver, some grand old buildings were constructed with the assurance that such a fire would never reoccur.

If you scan the architecture one can imagine the grandeur once provided by this area of town. As the city progressed, skid row was eventually left behind to be inhabited by the less fortunate people of soci­ety. Oh yes, this was the playground for the people of British Columbia's blue collar industries who, in their jolly revelry, exploited the less fortunate (unin­tentionally of course). A mother I once knew coined a phrase that she used very often during her children's horseplay: "After laughing comes crying." Funny, I still see that syn-

, drome. I see people today, who have been impaired for many years, attempt to tum their life around in order to live a normal life. This is easier said than done. The very determined do manage to struggle; let's use the adage "with the determination of a salmon headed up steam," and do actually make a life out of nothing at all. They are the lucky ones. Many people who attempt to tum their life around

first experience what I call Rip Van Winkle syn­drome. That is to say they've been stagnant for so long that when they begin to work at a new life it is, for all the world, like having slept for all those years and are just now waking up. The world has been progressing without them and the current occupants have no patience. This is a reality check for sure. Maybe too much so for the many who give up and return to what it was they were killing themselves with·.

· These people are only a sector of the populace who

live in our community. There are many other kinds of suffering that evolve right under our noses. Oh, don't forget the ones who have fallen through the cracks at the hands of some care less official and are graded erroneously as a "nut" or something. The volunteers at Carnegie Community Centre experi­ence many of these people in the course of a day, a week, a month. The Carnegie itself opened twenty-six years ago as

a community centre. The committees and all of the facilities of the DTES were the result of the blood, sweat and even tears of the crusaders who had the determination to tackle city hall and other govern­ment entities and their obstacle courses of red tape. And to this point our little universe has been unfold­ing as it should. But hark! The realty barons have rediscovered the heritage value of our area. In the not too distant future, life as we know it will

be greatly disrupted as we see the transformation similar to Gastown' s. Eventually the area will be exclusive to "well to do" merchants and their clien­tele. What will become of the less fortunate and the poor who occupy this community now? This is a serious matter to ponder; even now we in Carnegie are preparing for a more affluent clientele - the kind who enter an establishment and expect immaculate service or else. It has been my experience that volun­teers are not necessarily professional per se.

Even now we (volunteers) experience people who are oblivious of the fact that we are volunteers and think we are paid professionals. There are no indica­tors to the contrary such as, maybe, a sign saying "you are being served by volunteers please be pa­tient." And yet we keep saying that if we didn't have volunteers the joint could not remain open! There will come a time when a professional job will be demanded from us, at which point volunteers will become what, employees?

But the point to this article is like Trudeau said "if I just throw you a ball and not tell you, there's a 50/50 chance you'll catch it. But if I tell you I'm throwing you a ball you' ll catch it for sure." This is a heads up regarding the future and the slant of the work we have cut out for us. There will never be a shortage of poor and less fortunate people but something needs to be done to solve the never ending problem shortly. Are we up to the task?

Gerald G. Wells •

In Crab Park

She sits alone in Crab Park a people's park fought for by the residents of the Downtown Eastside.

She sits alone in this sanctuary that speaks of justice of courage of sweet life growing in the uncemented corners of the corporate city.

She sits alone in Crab Park. Silence calls to her with a soft voice only the heart can hear. She reaches out to the reds, mauves and greens shimmering in the summer sun. "Flowers," she says, as though naming them for the first time,

and her eyes are opened and she beholds the beauty of the universe -

in Crab Park a people's park in the Downtown Eastside.

Sandy Cameron

Cold

Workin potatoes, peppers cucumbers workin any damn thing.

3 •

he Downtown Eastsi e Poets

Next Saturday

at 7pm

In the Carnegie Theatre 401 Main Street

Free Admission

Cold

Free Coffee Open Mike

no thin but cold, cold that blows your knee up like a headache, cold that swells

your bones with • mtsery

and you ache more than clouds.

. Kemp Robinson Camp

MISW AA loves com

On May 16, 2006, an article was published in The Globe and Mail about a report tabled by the Task Force on Modernizing Income Security for Working­Age Adults. The article, by Jennifer Lewington, was about a Toronto group that made a number of rec­ommendations ostensibly to help people receiving income assistance and low-income people.

The recommendations include forming a new en­tity in Ontario responsible for overseeing periodic increases to the minimum wage, changes (for the better) on the way people receiving income assis­tance are forced to liquidate assets before receiving help, and instituting tax credits to aid low-income workers.

Sarcastic, cynical, right-wing columnist John Ib­bitson of The Globe had an article printed right under Lewington' s report, initially saying MIS W AA' s ideas weren't worth considering and should be ig­nored. But then Ibbitson did a sudden about-face and declared that a certain amount of consideration should be given to ameliorating the plight of low­income Canadians.

Key quotes from an article on May 16 in The To­ronto Star by Jacquie Chic tell a somewhat different story: "The dire poverty in which social assistance recipients and minimum wage workers live is attrib­utable to the inexcusable state of our income security system."

"Governments don't make the choices they do be­cause they are blind to the existence of poverty or its effects. On the contrary, choices that reduce or minimally increase low income are favoured despite the peril that causes for the poor; they create in­creased profit margins and let CEO salaries soar."

"Measures that have the effect of suppressing wages and keeping people desperate enough to ac­cept job conditions no one should have to tolerate are good for business."

" ... while MIS W AA 's portrait of the grim reality of poor people's lives is accurate, its recommendations are inadequate to address both the depth and the ur­·gency of the problem."

"The notion that people need 'incentives' to look ·.--:for work might also explain why MISWAA falls far

short of calling for an immediate and substantial in­crease in social assistance rates. It is troubling that there would be money to fund wage supplements but not for a substantial rate hike."

"Despite being well-intentioned, MISWAA's rec­ommendations do not sufficiently confront the core issue of income inadequacy."

This is similar to what anti-poverty activist Jean Swanson told me when I asked her about her opinion of MISW AA' s recommendations. She noted that no rate hike for people on income assistance was called for. (Jean is one of the drivers behind the Raise the Rates campaign, a program with the goal of raising income assistance rates here in BC.) She said that the proposed system of tax credits to help low­income earners is already being tried in the US (for me, an outright good enough condemnation), and that the result of this is to take the onus off business to pay better wages, and have the government absorb the costs.

This thinking is reflected in the article "Are Wage Supplements the Answer to the Problems of the Working Poor," by Andrew Jackson, National Direc­tor, Social and Economic Policy, Canadian Labour Congress. In his conclusion, Jackson notes, "In summary, wage supplements can play useful supporting roles in assisting the working poor, but should not be seen as the centre-piece of a new social architecture."

MISWAA was formed by a coalition of business, labour, and low-income representatives. The com­ment from the representative of the right-wing think tank, the C.D. Howe Institute, was revealing: "I don't think the recommendations, holus-bolus, will appear in our lives anytime soon .... But I think gov­ernments will respond to the direction." In other words, any income redistribution plan is anathema to the C.D. Howe, but if there has to be one, let it be done by government.

The good news comes in this final quote Jacquie Chic's article: "To its ever-lasting credit, MISWAA will spark a debate that we can no longer avoid."

By Rolf Auer

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YESTEJ\DAY'S TOMORROW''' .. TODAY????

That was sorta the question asked at the top of the Flyer. At the beginning it had "ARE WE" Further down the flyer it had "A World Peace Forum Event." An unforgettable gathering of Elders & Youth to share stories and strategies of survival, resistance and hope through word, song, discussion & listen-ing . .. please join us in this free event. Then it had a list of 12 people or groups who were to say or do something during the evening. I'm gonna give a little synopsis on what each person or group did or said and hope that you can follow along. Get my drift or does it have to snow again? It all started in the middle of the month when we put

out the last Newsletter. I help with the collating and so does our former librarian, Mary-Ann. She brought out a li.ttle piece of paper and said she was helping to co-ordmate an event at the main library. When I seen what it was about I thought "Gee I'd like to go to this." When I got home I wrote it on my calendar so I wouldn't miss it. I'm glad I did. I just got back from the event and I'm fascinated. It

was another very hot day today. When I walked into the Alice Mckay room at the main library it was like walking into a cool and relaxing haven. I had thought th~ place would be packed so I had come early. Ap­parently there wasn't any need as the place was only

set up for about 40 or 50 people and I was wondering how many were expected. t:; Sab.rina (our h~stess?) explained the purpose oftlfe·

eve~mg, ~omethmg about being together for peace, sharmg vtews, and having some fun. I'm sure I missed something as I was trying to write down what she was saying. She gave us a little get-to-know each other exercise where we each had to find a complete stranger and find something in common with him or her. I got kinda lucky as a woman named Celene came over and talked to me. Right away we found

.._ out we were both volunteers in the DTES. That ·~· didn't take too long and we chatted for a while. I was

so proud of myself for finding someone so soon. Pat on the back. Then the evening started.

First up were the Raging Grannies. They sang parts of 7 or 8 songs and were pretty good. Jose was up next and he had an interpreter, Jorge, because he couldn't speak English. His general story was about the k~lling and indenturing ofyoung people ofCo­lumbta around Bogota. A group of young people have banded together as artists to stop this destruc­tion of the young people. "A WORLD WITHOUT

VIOLENCE AND AUTHORITARIANISM IS A WORLD THAT IS POSSIBLE" is their motto. Next was Dr. Ed, a WWII veteran, who happened

to be a Jew clearing mines on the way to Berlin. He told us an amazing story of how he had to help Nazis on his way to the front.

Amany, a Palestinian from Bethlehem, told us of atrocities that occurred as she grew up near the West Bank of Jerusalem, how many babies die because the parents aren't allowed to go to the hospital when the mother is in labour. She is part of a group called "Youth for Peace and Development."

Mary Duffy asked the question "What do I know about war compared to these people who have spo­ken before me?" then she answered the question with a couple of poems and a prayer. They were good.

Grace, a second generation Japanese Canadian, told us ~f the horror of being sent to an internment camp ~urmg WWII. She spoke of how all their property was cpnfiscated and at the end of the war they were told to settle East of the Rockies or go to Japan. What a choice -and these people were not guilty of anything except being Japanese-Canadian.

Fawn, a teacher and part time librarian who was born in Vietnam talked of losing family members

and how Canada is a place of love not war. Cannan, a Chilean refugee writer, read from her

book and I dido 't quite catch the name of it. Then a U. S. Army veteran of Iraq, Kyle told about

how things aren't what they say they are and how he is fighting to stop from being sent back to the good ol' USA. Canada, he says, is a doorway and a peace loving country. Jorge, a Columbian youth activist, tells how young

people are forced into the guerrilla warfare at very early ages (young teenagers). He tells how rifles out­last youth as the rifles are passed on when the owner is killed. Mona, an Arizona Hopi tells about her organization,

the International Council of Indigenous Grandmoth­ers. When she is done talking she sings a Lakota prayer for peace. That is the end of the speakers for the evening and it is very insightful and also very grotesque. These people have suffered for no apparent reason. Even though they spoke of very mean and atrocious be­havior, the overall feeling isn't one of revenge or pain but it is a feeling of hope for a world of peace. Sabrina got back up and thanked everyone and gave

us another challenge. We were to draw something of what the evening meant to us. After thfs she tells us we have to find a stranger who has something in common with what we have drawn. I meet Christian who has drawn a lightning bolt as part of his picture and I have drawn a light bulb. We talk and find the thoughts are similar. Then Sabrina tells us we have to find another pair who has the same idea as we do.

. . This seems an impossible task but wouldn't you know that the second duo we talk to has drawn something similar. One has drawn a fire and the other has drawn a sun.

..

We decide .that we are all looking forward to a light of hope or reason. Interesting how they seem to match. It was an informative and interesting evening. Too bad-you missed it.

-hal

•

Overtime: •

There I was in 1984 at the frrst women' s centre when it got out of the house by Oppenheimer Park. Then the women's centre moved to Main Street, across the street from the courts, and then to where the 44 was. Now we have a new building just up the street from there. Now we stay - that' s it!

• - -' - .

J •

Who can understand?

Who can understand the soul so mysterious as it comes from God. Sometimes filled with sorrow and some days found in laughter and sometimes like a wind blowing through sails making bones rattle and shake; the soul is fed by fine food and the lyrics of music. Some things try to destroy it when there is no love for your fellow man days filled with so much monotony. Who can understand the soul

Doris

how it makes you wear clown hair painting the world with different colours dancing around in your underwear; puts on a green suit and goes to church. It never gets weary from a long walk home and can find a quiet spot while soaking toes in a tub full of warm water uch a stranger to the dark shadow. Who can understand the soul where time doesn't matter and keeps on going forwards and backwards. Never seems happy in one home; always hitting the road looking for some new mountain trails to follow; is at peace with the sound of birds whistling in the forest and hours are minutes found in a few lines of poetry.

Daniel Rajala

Arts, Culture Framework and Investment Plan Community Open House

· July 6th from 4-6 pm Gallery Gachet, 88 East Cordova

Yes another plan! And hopefully one that will be more than a plan, but an action with results that benefit our community. But that takes you, your interest, your passion for the arts and this commu­nity to make the plans and recommendations that come out of it a reality.

So what it's all about? The objective of this project is to create a strategic

framework ·and economic investment plan for arts and cultural activities in the Downtown Eastside. The plan will identify arts and cultural activities that will support and facilitate sustainable community development and economic revitalization without displacement. This is to be accomplished while balancing the goals of cultural, economic and com­munity development.

Who asked for the plan? A Steering Committee came together to commission

this project. The Committee is comprised of repre­sentatives of the Province of British Columbia, through the Ministries of Tourism, Sports and the Arts and Community Services, Vancouver Agree­ment, and 2010 Legacies Now as well as staff from the City of Vancouver Office of Cultural Affairs, Park Board, and Planning Department. The Consul­tation will help to identify and prioritize the type of strategic investment that should be made in the dif­ferent sectors and will help to formulate recommen­dations to the steering committee on the type of in­vestment that is required .

.

Who's doing the work? The firm ofNorth Sky Consulting Ltd. was selected through a public tender process to undertake this work. The consulting team for this project includes Donna Spencer, Sharon Kravitz and Irwin Oostindie Each of these individuals has a strong commitment to sustaining and enriching arts in the DTES for the benefit of the individual artist as well as the commu­nity as a' whole. The knowledge and skills of these team members are augmented by the skills of Sandie

~omanczak and Maurice Albert. Sandie and Mau-7' nee have the exp~ri~nce, skills, and knowledge to frame the Plan wtthm an economic community de­velopment context.

What happens at the Open House? The open house will provide an opportunity for people to find out more about the intent and devel­opment of the Plan and give the public a chance to offer insights into the arts and culture sector in the DTES. The comments we receive will help guide and inform the team. The open house will also be an opportunity for interested people to register so that they may receive more information on the Plan and its outcomes.

Your feedback is essential in shaping a plan that is relevant and positive for this community. We hope to see you on Thursday the 6th! e-mail at- malbert@northskyconsulting.com

Sunday, .July 2nd 11am- 5pm Mohawk Gas Station • 975 Willlngdon Ave. (at Parker), Burnaby

A fundralser to Increase the health, safety and well-being

of women ·.1..-orldne In the sex trade In the Downtown Eaatslde

WISH O.c>p•lto (+Mit<t j« lt1}'

+ ••

PARTY ANIMALS

Well here we are again, another year has passed and we're back to the I 51 day of summer the summer solstice. It's hard to be humble toda~ because this day is my official day, National Aboriginal Day.

I started the day out as usual, got up around 5 and waited for the 151 newscast of the day on G lobaJ. I

like to watch it just to see if I missed anything while I slept. As usual, they seemed to have gotten thru the nite without consulting me. When will they learn that I 'm to be informed of whatever happens. Oh well.. on with the day.

I watch sports news for a Y2 hour then I turn on my Yoga show and I attempt to workout with Padma. It sure is hard getting back into rhythm. It's hard to even do basic stretches but I know that will come with time. I'm just happy to be getting back into fo­cus. I've been out of touch for a while and this seems to be the best way to get back into myself, if you know what I mean.

After Yoga, I have something to eat and watch the programming on CityTV. I like the rapport of the co­hosts Simi and Dave. They start my day with a chuckle. Somewhere in there I take a shower and get ready for the rest of the day. It's time to leave and I get to Carnegie a bit early so I have to stand outside and wait for the front door to be opened so we can enter our haven. As I stand with my back to the bricks of Carnegie 1 am reminded of the time I was in jail. Actually all the different jails I've been in. I remember standing with my back to the fence and

• thinking how they keep me locked up and my free­dom is beyond the fence .

•

As I stand out side Carnegie I see the fence of being poor that is keeping me locked up in the DTES. It's a

fence I have allowed others to build to keep me down where they think that I belong. They think I should be kept under the carpet and be happy that I am allowed to exist. But that's another story and I'm just happy to have a day being celebrated in honour of my people.

So on with my story. This morning I have a shift at the learning centre and I have to find a way to get to the park (Oppenheimer) before'" my shift is over. I talked to Beth, our glorious leader and we're gonna have our bookclub meeting in the park. Beth is gonna give away books for NA day and I'd like to help her set up. Because of the day I'm allowed to leave a bit early and I get to the park before Beth. She has so much help that I just watch them set up. It's great sitting there in the shade of a tree and watching the camaraderie of friends helping each other. After things get arranged we begin our book club. It's kinda hard reading out loud sittin so close to the music but we manage for a Y2 hour or so.

A friend that I haven't seen for awhile drops by and • joins us. It's good to see him. He tells me he's been a 1~ bit under the weather and after he gets better he may ~ join our little club. He sat there for an hour at least and we enjoyed the goings-on. As we sat there dif-

!! I 0 :

ferent people came and went and I just enjoyed the day as it moved along. When the food line started to move I got into line so I could enjoy a little salmon lunch. After about an hour in line I got my lunch but I had missed out on the salmon. Oh well, I guess beef stew is just as good, especially when it's being given away. I complained to a few people and wouldn' t you know that someone had a piece of salmon left over and she gave it to me. I guess the squeaky wheel does get oil on occasion. Around 3 1 decided to go down to the UBC learning

exchange on 121 Main Street. I had to see Marisol before the weekend and today is the last day because they are having a retreat or something and they won't be back until Monday. I've been helping out with the

ESL program and my term is almost up. It's been a very rewarding time, the last coupla months, learning to facilitate and getting the chance to practice it at the same time. One of the perks of helping out is the people I meet. In the last 8 weeks I have met people from all over the world. I'm gonna name all the places I can remember. Let's see there were learners from China, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Shanghai, Japan, France, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia and Iran. Trish, an excellent teacher usually has us out to the university on Fridays to help us with our facilitating skills. That's where I've met most of the learners. The next week we have a class of from 2-7 learners, who we try to ease into speaking proper "everyday" English. As I said its very rewarding and you to have a chance to try it out because they are looking for more people to do this starting in the middle of July. Phone Marisol and tell her I sent you. She'd be happy to interview you. Her number is 604-408-5183. After I finished there I went back to the park to help

Beth take her stuff back to the Library. She had phoned another of her assistants to come help her but I had told her I was gonna help so I did. Her assistant was a very nice person named Alyssa, I hope that's how it's spelt. We had some fun with a fake tattoo and enjoyed our little trip back to Carnegie. Then it was time for the monthly feast that the volunteer de­partment puts on for us. Although I didn't enjoy the food, I ate it, The company was good and the service was excellent. I went home and was getting ready to go to the Roundhouse for a free show called The Rez Show (a mythical collage of stories and movement put on by aboriginal persons). But I fell asleep. After an afternoon in the sun at the park, then a big meal, do you blame me?

I woke up and I had a ~ hour to get to the show at a : theatre, that I only had a vague idea of where it was. I thought "What the hey" and figured if I was late I'd just walk back home in the early evening and that would be a nice end to my Aboriginal Day festivi­ties. Well I did get a bit lost and arrived late but they let me in and I was really happy about that. This is where I apologize to the other audience members for arriving late. Sorry. There were 4 people on the stage playing homemade drums. They were made of a plastic bucket, a coupla of coffee cans and garbage bags and clear tape. They put on a pretty good show.

Then came the great hereditary chief of the Squam­ish Nation, Chief Ian Campbell and some of his rela­tions, who put on an excellent show. He had us, about 300 or 400 people, all up dancing. We repre­sented bunnies or rabbits, humming birds, salmon and beaver of which I was one. (How do you dance like a beaver?) We had a good laugh after the dance when he calleQ. us a bunch of animals. I guess you had to be there. Then came a good 30 to 45 minute . show. It was funny and serious and all the other things you call a great inspirational show. It came to an end and it was well appreciated by all the people who watched it.

As I was leaving I looked at some of the different displays they had in the lobby area. Lots of good stuff and they were also handing out a free snack so I got a piece of bannock and some kinda piece of sau­sage. It was a nice capper to an excellent day. I walked home in the deepening dusk of another great day in one of the best cities and communities in my world.

When I got home I sat down and wrote this to share with everyone because this story feels so good. I hope somehow each of you got a chance to share in one of the many aboriginal day events and I hope you all have a great summer.

-hal

Sarti Walk through White Rock

Adventure .. Excitement .. Discovery FREE CARNEGIE PICNIC LUNCH! .

Friday, July 7, 9- 4 Open to Carnegie members. Pre-register on 3rd floor

DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE YOUTH ACTIVITIES SOCIETY 49 W .Cordova 604-251-3310

FREE - Donations accepted.

DEY AS Needle Exchange Van Schedule Telephone (604) 657-6561 AM Van 7:00am- 5:00pm (on the road 8am-4pm) PM Van 4:00pm- 2:00am (on the road ~pm-lam) ?Days/Week

. .

2006 DONATIONS Libby D.'-$ 1 00 Rolf A.-$50 Barry for Dave McC-$100 Christopher R .-$30

-Margaret D.-$40 Bruce J.-$15 The Edge-$200 Mary C-$ 10 Penny G .-$50 MP/Jelly Bean -$20 RayCam-30 Janice P .-$30 Wes K .-$50 Paddy -$60 Glen B.-$25 John S.-$60 Leslie S.-$20 Wm.B -$20 Michael C.-$80 HumanitieslOl-$100 Gram -$20 Sheila 8.-$20 Ben C.-$20 Brian $2 CEEDS -$50 Joanne H.-$20 Wilhelmina M.-$1 0 Sam an -$20

THE NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION.

<CIMCO> n®lt7m <e~JID JMJIDll<Q!

Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association.

Contributors may not malign, attack, or relegate any person, group or class, including drug users and economically poor people, to a level referred to or implying ' less than human '.

r We -;k~o;ied"g:iliat Ca"rn~gk c~~u~i~C;ntre, ~dth~ , · :.__ _ !!.e"!s!!f!.e~, ~ ~n .!!!_e ~~m_!s~~i~s2e~o9':.....;.. ~

Editor: PaulR Taylor; cover, Lisa David.

Submission Deadline for next issue:

-Tuesday July 10

Contact Jenny Wsl Ching

""'1111 MLA

Working for You 1070-1641 Commercial Dr V5L JYJ

Phone: 775-0790 Fax: 775-0881 .. Downtown Eastside Residents Association

I 2 E. H~stings St, or call 682-093 I

•

/~'•' ·,/.../._ ~ ~"~~··~/v-"-./''V".AA~~" .. ', .. ""'-'"'-''.......:" .. "v· . )''...-~ ... ._..·~.r~'""/'/'/"'./'"''""'~·:.; .... ""/v'•,. "VVV"'-o:/';..."V'-,;~',/'..:;"/'"'/'yl'' .. • •

HAs-BEEN LIBRARIAN, S S SEEKS YOUTH AGED 13-2 4 TO SHOP FOI\ BOOKS & DTHEI\ STUFF

& MAKE THE LIBRARY tDUTH·FPJENDLt

NEW CONCESSION HOURS:

9am-11:15am; 12pm-4pm; 5pm-8pm

DO YOU HAVE A LEGAL PROBLEM? Come to our Free Clinic on Carnegie,s 3 rd floor ~BC Law Students Legal Advice Program

Tues, 1 Oam-8pm; Wed & Thurs, 1 Oam-4pm

My LIVED EXPERIENCE IN THE ARTS AND CULTURE

My name is Stephen Lytton. I was born in Lytton, B.C., with Cerebral Palsy. I am a member of the In­terior Salish, Thompson, First Nations. I am a twin, and my twin sister is not disabled. I have a younger sister and other older brothers and sisters. Due to the lack of services in my community, I was forced to relocate to Vancouver, B.C., in order to access the

. services required. For a disabled child it was fright-• enmg.

· In 1978 I moved to Vancouver for training and em­ployment. In 1992 I moved to the Downtown East­side. In 2003 my friends and I heard that the Carne­gie Community Centre was about to celebrate the tooth anniversary of the building's existence. That is wheri-the call went out for community members to participate, with a host of artistic events including a film festival, book launch and a parade. As for the community play In the Heart of a City, everything happened the same way, except for the auditions for parts. My involvement grew from that point on, with and for the DTES (Downtown Eastside).

As time went by, I became more committed to the community because of the community play. "If you don't want to ·be a leader in your community, don't speak up, hide." My ·mistake was I spoke up. · Even before the community play I was speaking out!

Today I serve on two boards as a volunteer: The BC Aboriginal Network on Disabilities Society, and the Carnegie Community Center Association.

Since 1989 I've been an advocate with B.C.ANDS off and on, for 17 years. In fact I was one of the founding members. Our mandate is to promote the betterment of Aboriginal people with disabilities on a

, daily basis. I am also an advocate of the Downtown Eastside Community, addressing issues affecting our

neighbourhood along with serving on the Aboriginal Homelessness Steering Committee and a number of other committees.

Hopes and Dreams: My hope and dream was to share my experience of the community play across Canada, and did so in Radio interviews, videos, and their distribution. We need to educate people. I got involved not because I'm native, but because of the human issue.

Now it's women from all walks of life. Through no fault of their own, they come here and they have dreams. They come here unprepared and are pulled in and misled. Things don t work out and they're dis­illusioned and thrown out to the "wolves" so to speak.

They got treated poorly because they felt they owed something and they stay. Some end up in the sex trade and sometimes tliey're forced to stay. A major­ity end up missing or dead. They could be running away from something quite minor compared to what they're running to ..

A lot of people in Vancouver come from all over Canada. They think Vancouver is filled with glamour and hope because of how it's portrayed but people have to learn about the real hurt of false hope.

A video would share the reality. You're not always going to get what you thought you came for. You · might get caught up in drugs. Don t let the bright lights fool you. Vancouver is not what it is made out to be. When people came here, they're full of life, gullible and ill prepared.

The community play was not an end in itself, but a means to wake people up to the good here. This play helped to breakdown racial and other barriers -through compassion, commitment, encouragement and self development.

Theatre can be part of the solution. Theatre can also help build team concept, establish trust through dia­logue, squash the stereotype mentality of the DTES by changing attitudes and building bridges. Racism does not discriminate. It embraces all who will par­take. It takes it in and gives out. But love conquers all. My role as the old one allowed me to have the audience in my hands. It gave me the ability to pull people in and reach in and have them trust me.

As the process of rehearsals continued my role got more important because of the impact and purp9se to build bridges to pull people in to share beauty and

the bitter sweet that life is. That was the community play. One question was asked: What one thing_in your Downtown Eastside community do you most want to nourish or preserve? My response was, "I want to nourish that we as a people came together and succeeded in that mandate of building bridges.

The weight of that production, I realize, was an enormous task to fill for the entire production being where it's coming from- the Downtown Eastside. And the failure of it would have been far more dam­aging because of where it's from. And we built trust with one another without realizing; as time went on we learned to trust one another.

Going from Advocate to Actor You speak to the same people but in a different set­ting. Both share a message of hope. I changed. I came to understand the issues differently. I'm finding ways to be more effective in both lines of work.

In Closing . We must ensure that the powers that be are ac­countable to the community. But we, too, within the community must hold ourselves accountable to our

. community and to those in leadership. We speak on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves and for those who are no longer here. Therefore each member of this community must play a part. We are the very heart and soul of the Downtown Eastside Community.

Homelessness

The path to his home is turned aside his seat and bed are on the street,

Poverty clothed him with darkness Caught in the way of someone's agenda,

Homelessness is Lawlessness they say

Perverse lips and wicked-hearted they call him by many names,

Skid Row, Slum, Ghetto ... Falsifying the balances with deceit

Homelessness breeds violence they say

Condemned to drug addiction through the alleys of desolation,

Sighing comes before he eats Stumbling blocks are no comfort to his heart. Another law is waging against the homeless

Homelessness is a heinous crime they say

Denied of value as citizens his passion and desire seem exhausted, Charity didn't begin at home for him

Homelessness in the first world . Homelessness in the third world.

Ayisha I

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If you were standing here now: -There would be hugs -There would be prayer -I would honour and respect you -There would be appreciation -There would be lots of attention -I would spend time with you -I would listen if you needed me to -I would share dinner, movies and music with you -I would seek help for you

-1 would cry, laugh, sing & dance with you -1 would love you forever as a friend.

You are awesome. You will be missed a lot. God took you too early. You are in my heart forever ..

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Norma Jean B .

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Strathcona, Carnegie and Ray-Cam Community Centres

present

The Neighbourhood Small Grants Program for the Downtown Eastside and Strathcona!

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Application deadline: July 7, 2006 For projects to take place August to November 2006

Announcing the 2"d year of the Neighbourhood Small Grants program in the DTES/Strathcona area. Funded by a grant from the Vancouver Foundation, this program offers up to $500 to groups of neigh­bours who want to work together on small projects that enhance their neighbourhoods. Residents can plant a neighbourhood garden, hold a community · ! story & feast, organize an art fair or host a youth sports day - whatever a group of neighbours would · like to create. Those who Jive in the Downtown Eastside or Strath­cona areas can qualify for up to $500 for a project that enhances their neighbourhood socially, physi­cally or culturally. Projects must be led by two or more neighbours or a small group of residents and cannot be for profit; organizations are not eligible. A resident advisory committee reviews the applications and decides which projects will be funded. Applicants will be informed whether or not their

project is approved by the end of July.

Brochures and application forms are available at Carnegie Community Centre ( 401 Main St.), Stath­cona Community Centre (601 Keefer St.) or Ray Cam Co-operative Centre (920 East Hastings.)

For more information or to receive a brochure, phone the DTES/Strathcona Neighbourhood Small Grants committee at 604-713-1850 or email: teresa-nsgp@hotmail.com.

Skinny Long Huil<tmg

I'm walking towards Carnegie Centre to meet Sheila Baxter, the author. I'm hoping she is there today.

I left Belkin House and, hobbling along with the use of my brown cane, I look up and notice this long skinny building as I approach Chinatown.

This building has a tiny sign - ARCO - oh what a name! I glance up and count 1-2-3-4-5 windows. These windows project out. I bet inside they have a window seat. I notice two separate sets of windows, . ten in all. What a skinny front site. I look up to the side and see brick all the way lengthwise. Holy smokes! What a loooong, skinny' building. It looks old;. I wonder when it was built and who built it.

I walk a' little further and on the other side see win­dows. I didn't count them as I ran into a lady who lives on the second floor. She says - $325 for singles, $650 for doubles. It is a rooming I hotel with no bed bugs or cockroaches. Gosh a hotel- long and skinny. Hmm. My curiosity

now settled. Isabel McCurdy

Life in Poverty

My name is Elaine Woodhall. I am 60 years old. I have lived in this community for 25 years and I'm tired of seeing poor people treated like dirt.

I'm talking about the single room hotels; I'm trying to get my damage deposit back from one of them.

Life is hard for the poor, never knowing if you can keep a roof over your head, never knowing if/when you're going to eat.

We need to stick together and fight for our right to live in safety and peace.

The hotel I left is a good example of greed. The managers didn't care if a tenant was sick; I left the room cleaner than it was when I moved in but they still ripped off the deposit. The main guy makes his money off the poor and doesn't give a damn if you are elderly or infirm. I am tired of feeling like a vic­tim of this greed.

We have to keep our heads high and fight for our right to breathe & without the fear of being tossed out of our homes. I hope that things will change for us soon.

Keep the faith and remember that poor people are just as good, maybe even better, than those with money. We are rich in spirit.. and that's what counts

[A Radio Station in Tennessee has a "Beer for the Homeless" Campaign. The Salvation Army con­demned it, saying the practice "only adds fuel to the fire . " The following response is common sense.]

Starvation Army

The SaJiy Ann and any number of do-gooder social services keep up the same old boring and inaccurate claptrap about "homelessness". We must aJI be nuts or alkies or druggies or just plain weird. The crap about 'alcohol causing homelessness' doesn't make financial sense. A case of beer in this city is under $20 per day. In a

month that equals $600. Welfare pays $510.

Minimum wage after tax pays $800. Rent is $400+. Forget food, bus fare, prescription

drugs. Even if every street person never drank an­other drop, there'd still be no place to live. Being unhoused is about poverty, lack of stable,

reasonably paid employment and social benefits that are so far under the poverty line that the people on them can't even see where the economic line IS. It's about a lack of affordable, accessible and easily maintained housing.

lfwe want to start fixing an economic problem the first thing we have to do is to look at money, NOT social excuses. And if somebody wants to save the unhoused populace a few $$$ towards another ex­pense, we might call it manipulative but it does noth­ing to address why 100,000 people in this province have nowhere to I ive.

It looks like the Starvation Army is up to its same o~d Imperialist-Victorian-white-glove-poverty­pimping "give us more government funds to solve the problem" sales pitch.

If this radio station really wanted to stop begging they could get sociaJiy conscious and start by fight-ing the WTO and corporations creating mass unem­ployment from sheer greed. But beee heee heee OOOOPS! That's who's paying for the ad campaigns that keep them on the air ....

By MetisRebel

Narn Courier: Are you Ambassador G'Kar? Ambassador G'Kar: This is Ambassador G'Kar's quarters. This is Ambassador G'Kar's table! This is

Ambassador G'Kar's dinner!! Which part of this progression escapes you?!

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The Shallow Shores

See the seaside siren, sitting, musing: "The brooks' song speaks of idle tides in shallower pools."

Thoughts spring up in the rain, Brave the cold, then back again. Shaking off a veil of dew, small forest creatures breathe a sigh.

Freed up from the terra firma, born into flight Falcon drifts on thermal winds with eyes of crystal.

Rocks up on the mountain keep secrets in their seismic sleep's theta waves and all beneath them tum their eyes up to the sky.

And we want to feel what it is to fly.

Slipped on the ladder's rung, slept until the shadows hung.

Until the shadows hung as clouds before the burning sun, until the shadows hung as dreams before the dawn.

And we want to see what the siren saw.

Taught not to want for more, Like rocks on the shallow shore.

What if the silent sea should swallow all our dreams up whole? What if a silent shadow falls upon our soul...

Rick Pambrun

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News from the Library

New Books Ryan Knighton, a Vancouver writer, has been go­

ing progressively blind since his eighteenth birthday, some 15 years ago. In Cockeyed: A Memoir (617.73) he manages to drive a bus through the conventions of woe-is-me confessionals, and be funny, irreverent and wicked about disability and our attitudes towards people with disabilities.

A few new books in the For Dummies series have arrived. Terrible name for a series, but useful books. Check out Singing for Dummies (784.93), Opera for Dummies (782) and Guitar for Dummies (787.61).

Want to write but don't know where to start? In Writing Brave and Free (808), Ted Kooser and Steve Cox get down to the nitty gritty of how to get started and how to keep going. In short chapters, they talk about getting into the writing habit, finding the best time and place to write, imagining your readers, and going about getting published. Also just in is The Playwright's Guidebook: An Insightful Primer on the Art of Dramatic Writing by Stuart Spencer (808.2), a handbook that includes helpful writing exercises.

Beth, your librarian

The Summer Dream Reading Festival

The Summer Dream Reading Festival is an annual, engaging, outdoor festival established to raise public awareness regarding the on-going literary events, programs and resources available in the community. The festival will take place at UBC Robson Square Gust down the stairs from the Vancouver Art Gal­lery) on Saturday July 22, 2006 from 12 pm to 8:30pm. We hope you can join us. Performers Schedule: 12:00- 12:20 Announcements & Guest Speakers 12:20 - 12:40 Singer-songwriter- Bahiyyih 12:40-1:00 High Altitude Poetry (SFU) 1:00 - 1:20 Poets Against War 1:20-1:40 Wax Poetics 1:40-2:00 Twisted Poets Literary Salon

2:00 2:20 Guest Reader Irene Livingston 2:20-3:00 Local Band- Melic Thrum 3:00-3:20 Shoreline Writers: Darlene Henderson Jim Thomson, Brian Wilson, Sue Mcintyre 3:20-3:40 World Poetry Reading Series 3:40-4:00 Spontaneous Saturdays 4:00-4:20 Word Whips Writing Series

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4:20- 4:40 Singer-songwriter- David Campbell 4:40- 5:00 Vancouver Poetry Slam 5:00- 5:20 Downtown Eastside Writers 5:20- 5:40 North Shore Writers 5:40- 6:00 First Tuesday Assembly of Poets 6:00- 6:20 Announcements & Guest Speakers 6:20 -7:00 Tamara Nile and The Peals 7:00-7:20 Burnaby Writers 7:20- 7:40 Vancouver Society of Story Telling 7:40- 8:00 Ink 8:00-8:20 57 Varieties 8:20- 8:30 Closing Announcements

Join In: WORDS ON ROBSON POETRY CONTEST Come down to The Summer Dream Reading Festival on July 22, 2006 to enter Pandora's Collective's new­est poetry contest. Write your poem on the spot or bring one from home: We will have a poetry table complete with paper, pens and writing prompts for those who wish to test their imaginations and get their hands dirty with a little poetry. See what you can whip up. Or bring one from home. Guidelines: (These guidelines are very different from our regular contest ones. Please read them carefully.) All poems must be original and previously unpub­lished. Submissions will not be blind so please add your name, address, telephone number and/or email address to the poem/poems submitted. The entry fee is $5 per poem. We will accept cash or cheque (made out to Pandora's Collective). Drop off your poems and entry fee to the Pandora's Collective tent the day of the festival (July 22, 2006, UBC Robson Square, 800 Robson Street). Fifty percent of the contest money generated will go towards the top five win­ners. Poems can be of any theme or form but can not exceed 40 lines. Along with cash prizes the winning poems will also be on our web site. All rights return to the poet after publication.

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